He fights them off like it’s the last thing he’ll do on this earth, even if it costs him everything. But after a heavy kick to the stomach, he falls to his knees, his strength waning fast after all the beatings he already endured in those barracks.
I cannot let him give up now. They’ll kill him for defying their rules and trying to save me.
“Soren! Don’t give up!” I yell with every ounce of my willpower. “Please!”
He turns his gaze to meet mine, a fury blazing behind his eyes that silences the storm raging in my heart. And with a growl, he swivels back around and punches his attacker so hard in the gut that he vomits blood. Another fist is thrown at an attacker coming straight for me, and he shields my body with his, going face-to-face with the guard who tries to stab him.
Soren refuses to surrender even when I can tell from the exhausted gasps and sweat dripping from his body that he’s fading fast.
Tears well up in my eyes as I watch this man sacrifice not just his honor but his life to defend mine. I can’t let this happen. I can’t lose him, not like this.
“Stop!” I yell. “Please, stop!”
But no one seems to hear me over the crowd's chants and the fighting going on right above my head. Not until Soren buckles from the weight of the men piling on top of him. And I’m helpless to watch him get tied up again.
“Enough!” the Elder with the cane yells.
Soren’s shoved to the ground, one of the guards planting his boot on Soren’s head.
I shriek. “Please, don’t hurt him!”
The crowd hollers and laughs around us, ridiculing what just happened even though there are countless dead bodies. People they knew and grew up with. Don’t they care about their own?
Is this what Soren was raised in? Mindless fighting just for the sake of honor, no matter the cost?
I swallow as the Elder steps forward and breaks the spell, causing the crowd around us to silence. They obviously revere these women. But if all of this blood is spilled without anyone giving a care in the world just because they’re men who were trained to do so, they’re not a hair better than the rest of the world.
The cane slams into the ground in front of my face, and I look up into frustrated eyes. “You … you would beg for them to stop?”
She points at Soren, who lies defeated on the ground, surrounded by men who hold him down like a hunted animal.
“I don’t want him to die for me,” I reply.
She tips my chin up with her cane, inspecting my face. “He risked his honor to try to save you.”
“I know,” I say.
Her eyes narrow and twitch.
Then she walks to Soren.
“You. You wish to live in shame?” she asks.
“I would rather die than see her hurt,” he growls back.
“You’ve abandoned all rules and honor in exchange for sin,” she hisses.
“NO,” he says, his voice so loud and strong that it silences everyone. “Not sin. I need her. More than I need life.”
I’m shocked at his words, at the softness and desperation in his voice. And my heart both flutters and shatters all the same at the realization that he can’t have what he wants. I can’t have what I want. We can’t have each other because others don’t want us to.
“You choose this over restoring your honor?” the Elder hisses.
He nods without question, without so much as a pause.
“Fine,” she says through gritted teeth. “Have it your way.”
Suddenly, I’m lifted up from the stump and taken away. I squeal. “Soren!”
And the last thing I see are his solemn eyes while the guards drag me away again.
Chapter 44
Soren
I’m dragged away from the field and put back into a hut again. Though this one is much smaller than before. I’m chained to the floor this time, but the ropes aren’t nearly as sturdy as the metal was in the barracks. The only thing truly keeping me here is that locked door in front of me. I could easily knock it down with sheer force, but I won’t.
Because they’re out there, waiting for me to try.
Waiting for me to jump into another fight … one that’ll be the death of me.
These men are fearless, like me. They were born to fight, born to sacrifice themselves. There’s no way I can make it out alive … not if I want to save April too. And I refuse to leave her here.
Suddenly, the door is unlocked, and a guard steps inside to throw me a disgusted look. Then he moves aside. A figure stands in the door opening, long hair and gracious curves illuminated by the sun. I blink to stop the sun from blinding me and mutter, “April?”
But when the woman steps inside and the door is closed, I realize it isn’t her at all.